Strawberry Dilemmas
by kazoquel4
Summary: When Travis eats all of Katie's hard-picked strawberries without permission, it's the last straw for the daughter of Demeter. But when he comes up with a plan to make things up to her, the outcome is something neither of them had ever expected. A little Tratie fluff, anyone?
1. Chapter 1

Katie was on her knees in the strawberry patch, harvesting the berries. The rest of her siblings had taken a break to grab something to eat, but Katie couldn't be pulled away. The sun beat down on the back of her neck, and her sandy blond hair was escaping the messy ponytail she had hastily pulled it into. Streaks of dirt lined her face where she had brushed her gardening gloves across her skin, trying to push the hair out of her eyes.

A complete basket of berries sat at her heels behind her, and another almost-full one stood to her right. Katie carefully pulled each berry off its vine with care, laying them gently in the basket.

She loved harvesting. It was calming, and it felt as though she were in her own world; just her and the berries. All of the children of Demeter were good at harvesting, but Katie was the best. She knew exactly when to take the plant, and when to leave it to let it ripen for a few more days.

"You done yet?"

With a surprised gasp, Katie spun around, her heart thudding. Travis Stoll sat behind her, watching her pick the strawberries. He gave her a bemused smirk and raised eyebrows when she saw how startled she was.

"Don't _do _that!" Katie snapped, pressing a hand to her heart. "I thought I was alone; you gave me a heart attack!"

Travis laughed, popping another strawberry in his mouth. "Alertness, Katie, come on. You gotta know when you're being watched."

Katie opened her mouth to counter before she noticed what he was eating. Eyes narrowing, she asked in a dangerous tone, "Are you eating my strawberries?"

The basket she had painstakingly filled lay empty in Travis' lap. He plucked the last berry out of the basket, tugging off the stem and sticking it in his mouth. "Yup," he said, popping the 'p'. "They're delicious, Katie, really, good work this year."

Letting out a small scream of exasperation, Katie yanked her gardening gloves off. "Travis Stoll, what gives you the right to eat those?" she asked, glaring at him.

Travis looked surprised by her outburst. "I don't know," he said, blinking. "They were sitting here, and I just-"

"Do you know how _long _it took me to gather those?" Katie shouted, clenching her fists.

Travis held up his hands in surrender, eyes wide. "Alright, _alright. _They're just strawberries!"

Standing, Katie threw down her gloves. They landed in the dirt at Travis' feet. "They are _not _just strawberries!" she yelled at him. "You're so… ugh!"

She turned and ran, sprinting back towards the camp. She felt tears pricking at her eyes, and quickly brushed them off. Why was she crying? Yes, she was upset, who wouldn't be; she had been in those patches for nearly three hours, and Travis had eaten all of her berries in less than thirty seconds. She was just so _tired _of him. While Connor was annoying, he was never as infuriating as his sibling. Why did he always target her? What had she ever done to him?

When Katie ran off, Travis clambered to his feet. "Wait- Katie, I'm sorry!" he shouted, but the demigod didn't seem to hear him. He glanced down at the empty basket by his feet, and felt a stab of guilt shoot through his heart.

Letting out a long groan, he took off after Katie, kicking up dirt behind him as he ran. He wasn't sure why he was running after her; they were just _strawberries. _But Travis felt bad for upsetting her, and wanted to at least apologize. Although he had never exactly apologized for anything, he thought it was necessary at this time. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to eat the strawberries, he had just… done it.

He caught up to her at the canoe lake. She was standing on the shore, arms wrapped around herself tightly. Katie stared out at the water, back to Travis, refusing to look at him.

"Katie?" Travis asked hesitantly, unsure on what to say now that he was here.

"What do you want?" Katie asked flatly. "Here to taunt me some more?"

"No!" said Travis in surprise. "Of course not. Katie, I-"

"What, Travis?" Katie asked, whirling around. Her brown eyes were smoldering, and she was glaring at Travis as though she loathed the very air he breathed. "What could you possibly want? You're always teasing me and taunting me and messing with my cabin, and I'm _sick _of it! Why do you only target me?"

Travis was stunned into silence. He wracked his brains; why was Katie his chief target? Well, she got mad very easily, and it was pretty funny when she yelled at him. But not right now. Right now, Travis felt as though someone had lit a fire in his chest and was slowly killing him from within. _Why did he always target Katie?_

"It's the only way I can get your attention," Travis finally muttered.

Katie stared at him, bewildered. "What?" she asked incredulously.

Travis swallowed thickly, looking up to meet Katie's gaze. "You don't notice me unless I'm doing something to annoy you," he said, finding the words from someplace inside of him. "I guess I just… think that if I do this…"

"That I'll what; like you?" Katie asked with a laugh. When Travis looked down at the ground, the smirk slipped off her face. "You're doing this to get my attention?" she asked in a more gentle voice.

Travis shrugged. "I dunno, maybe."

Katie felt something tighten inside of her, and her eyes narrowed. "I don't _believe _it," she hissed. "You're so… so… I can't _stand _you, Travis Stoll!"

Travis looked up at her, stunned. "What?"

"You're the most annoying person I've ever _met!_" Katie hollered at him. "You pick on me for years, _years, Travis, _then say it's to get my ATTENTION? Is this some kind of joke to you?"

"No, Katie, I swear, I really-" Travis said desperately, practically begging with her.

"EVERYTHING is a joke to you!" she shouted at him. "And I can't take it anymore! I hate you, Travis, I hate you! Go away and leave me ALONE!"

Travis stumbled back, looking as though he had been slapped. Katie stood there, breathing heavily, glaring at him.

Then his shoulders slumped with defeat. His face crumpled, and he looked near tears. "Fine," he muttered. "I'll leave you alone. I just… I'm sorry, Katie, I'm sorry."

And he whirled around and ran away, sprinting as fast as he could.

Katie's glare dropped off her face, and she watched him run away with wide eyes. She was already beginning to regret her harsh words, but she didn't allow herself to.

_It needed to be done, _she tried to convince herself. _Travis needs to realize that he can't go through life thinking everything is one big joke._

"Katie?" asked a cautious voice behind her.

Turning around, she saw Annabeth standing there. The girl's grey eyes were watching her closely with a calculating look.

"Are you alright?" The daughter of Athena asked, taking in Katie's shaking shoulders and quivering lip.

Suddenly, Katie burst into tears. Annabeth hurried over and wrapped her arms around the girl, holding her in a hug. Katie threw her arms around her neck, burying her face in Annabeth's shoulder and sobbing.

What had she done?

* * *

**A/N: This is going to be a (probable) two-shot, maybe three. Just a little short story for you because I got bored.**

**So, if you read this and liked it, please review. I don't know if they were OOC, because I just got this idea and wanted to write it down.**

**Thanks for reading, please review!**

**Xoxo,**

**Kayla**


	2. Chapter 2

Connor approached Katie that night at dinner.

"What did you do to Travis?" he accused, hands on his hips in a rather girly manner.

Katie blinked at him. "Why?" she asked nervously.

"_Because,_" Connor said testily, "he's in the cabin, not talking to anyone, and is refusing to come to dinner. He's Travis. He doesn't miss dinner. And he's always talking. Percy said he saw you two together earlier; what did you do to him?"

Katie shot a look over her shoulder at Percy. That idiot son of Poseidon was sitting at his table, completely oblivious to the death stare Katie was sending him. He was munching on a French fry, grinning over at Annabeth, who was talking with Malcolm.

"I didn't do anything to him!" Katie defended. Then, she winced. "Kinda."

"Kinda?" Connor asked, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean _kinda._"

"We- er- might have gotten into an argument…" Katie muttered, remembering her words earlier that day. Just thinking about it made her stomach twist sickeningly. She was usually a very quiet, nice person, and prided herself on being kind to everyone. Yes, she was lenient on that when it came to the Stoll brothers, but even she admitted that she had been a bit too harsh on Travis. Katie wasn't really sure why she had said those things against him. He may act like his head was full of air, but even idiots had feelings. And Katie was positive she had hurt his.

"An argument?" Connor snorted. "He argues with people all the time, and _this _never happens. He won't even talk to _me_. Me! What did you say to him?"

And so begins the anger of the Stoll siblings. Katie had almost forgotten how protective those two were of each other. After growing up together, however, it was almost a given. If anything happened to one of them, the other was automatically there to back them up. Katie was almost… jealous. Yes, she and her siblings were close, but she didn't feel like she could tell them absolutely _everything. _But watching the Stolls, and how they completely understood each other, it was hard to imagine one without the other.

Katie sighed. "Um… I might have told him… I… hated him?" she said very quickly, trying to get it over with.

"You what?" Connor asked, eyes narrowing. "Why'd you do that?"

"He ate my strawberries!" Katie shouted. She kicked herself mentally as everyone in the surrounding area shot her odd looks. Her argument sounded stupid, even to her.

Connor stared at her. "Is this a joke?"

"Ugh!" Katie said, squeezing her eyes shut momentarily. "Just go away, Connor! I'll fix things, ok?"

"You'd better," Connor said firmly, shooting her a sharp look. Katie had never seen him so serious, but as soon as someone messed with his brother, it was as though he was getting ready for war. "Fix it."

Katie watched him stomp back over to the Hermes table. She glanced back at the Demeter table, and all of her siblings talking and laughing as they started their meal. She felt her stomach do a flip-flop. She couldn't eat, at least not right now. Her appetite had left when Connor had stomped away. All she could think about was Travis, in the Hermes cabin, alone and feeling all depressed. And she knew what she had to do.

Turning around, Katie hurried out of the dining pavilion. _The lengths I have to go to for this boy, _she thought glumly.

She slowed as she reached the Hermes cabin. It looked deserted. Maybe Travis had left? Yeah, he had probably brushed off what Katie had said, and gone to dinner. And she just hadn't seen him. Right?

Starting to gather hope, she knocked on the door sharply, convincing herself that she wasn't going to get a response.

"What?" said a flat voice from inside.

Katie felt her face fall. It was obviously Travis in there, and he was obviously still bummed out about their arguments earlier.

"It's Katie," she called out hesitantly.

There was silence for a moment. Then he yelled, "Go away."

Katie felt a frown cross her face. "No!" she shouted back. "Open the door!"

"No!" Travis yelled back.

Katie clenched her fists. "Open this door, Travis Stoll, or I'm coming in there!"

"Try!" Travis said, sounding a little taunting.

Katie squared her shoulders. "Fine," she muttered, putting her hand on the doorknob and pulling.

It didn't move.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she pulled harder. When it didn't open, she kicked it, letting out a noise of frustration.

"You _locked _it!" she accused.

"Nice observation," Travis said scathingly; Katie could practically feel his hard gaze through the door.

Katie felt as though he had hit her. Travis may be rude and inconsiderate, but he was never _mean._ Actually, now that Katie had thought back on it, he had never really been mean to her. Just annoying and… well, annoying. But never purposely mean.

"The cabins aren't supposed to have locks," Katie said, keeping her voice steady.

"I have my ways," is all he said.

Katie ran a hand through her hair, taking a deep breath. "Travis, I'm _sorry_," she said, giving in. "I didn't mean that stuff I said to you earlier. I was just mad. Please don't be like this."

It was completely silent. Katie waited anxiously, listening for any sound of life from the cabin. Travis was quiet, not letting out the smallest noise.

"Travis?" Katie asked cautiously.

"Go away, Gardner," Travis finally said.

"Travis, please, I didn't-" Katie started desperately.

"I said go away!" Travis replied adamantly. "If you don't want me in your life, well, then, I'm not going to force it. You've made it quite clear you'd rather not speak to me."

Katie felt tears well up in her eyes again. She took a step away from the door, fists unclenched and limp. She wasn't sure why Travis' rebuttal and dismissal of her affected her so much, but it did. And Katie hated it.

"Oh, and Katie?" Travis called out.

Katie felt her heart thud hopefully. "Yeah?" she called back, hoping he would just accept her apology.

Travis didn't respond for a moment. Just when Katie thought he was just messing with her, and was never going to respond, he called out quietly, "I really _am _sorry for eating your strawberries."

* * *

The next two days were tense and hard for Katie. Travis had finally emerged from the cabin, but spent as much time as he could in there. When he was out, he didn't so much as look at Katie. Katie had only approached him once; the cool indifference she received from him was enough to make her stay away.

Her days felt dull without him and Connor around to brighten things up. Connor was under the notion that she had 'broken' his brother, and spent his free time glaring at her and pouting. At first, Katie had tried to look at it as a good thing: at least now Travis wasn't around to bother her. But this awkward state the two of them were in was even worse than getting teased by him. By the end of the second day, Katie was readily admitting that she missed the infuriating little pest, and only wanted him back to normal.

"He'll cool off," Annabeth assured her one day as they stood in line for the lava wall. "Just give him some time."

"Or I could cool him off for you," Percy broke in, shrugging. He was only half-listening to the conversation, messing with a piece of grass he had picked. That kid was _way _too ADHD. "A quick dump in the lake, maybe…"

Annabeth shot a glare at him. "You're _so _not helpful," she complained.

Percy blinked at her with those big green eyes. "Oh, come on, Wise Girl! It's a good idea; think about it, a quick trip into the water and he'll come up refreshed and happy!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "That's just you, Seaweed Brain."

Percy gave her a crooked grin. "Oh, that's right. Only the children of Poseidon get energy from water…"

Annabeth let out a laugh, leaning in to peck Percy on the lips. "You're an idiot," she said fondly.

Katie looked away, feeling as though she were intruding. She envied their relationship. They were so perfect together, the way they balanced each other out. Percy needed someone to keep him grounded, and Annabeth needed someone to lighten her up a bit. They were so good together, Katie couldn't help the jealousy she felt.

When she climbed into bed that night, all she wanted to do was sleep. Things were just too stressful, and she had been getting the weirdest dreams lately. But of course, she always got weird dreams; it all comes with being a demigod.

Katie finally managed to fall asleep, which she was grateful for, as she hadn't been getting much rest lately. So when she was woken up only a few hours later by noises from outside, she was considerably angry.

"Ouch!" hissed a voice from outside. There were a couple of scuffing noises, as though someone were dragging something along the ground. "Stupid demon fruits…"

Katie pressed a hand to her forehead. _This cannot be happening, _she thought, climbing out of bed quietly. The rest of her siblings were still fast asleep, oblivious to the sounds from outside. Across the room, Grace let out a small snort before rolling over in her sleep, snoring.

Tiptoeing over to the door, Katie carefully pulled it open. Blinking out into the bright light of the full moon, she was so mystified by what she saw, for a second she thought she was still dreaming.

"Travis?" she asked, her voice heavy with bewilderment.

The boy outside jumped at least a foot in the air. He knocked over a basket he had been filling with small round objects, knocking them onto the ground.

"Oh, come _on!_" he said with a groan. "I just picked those back up!"

Katie swept her gaze over the scene. What looked like thirty wicker baskets of strawberries were spread out in the dirt in front of the cabin. Travis was leaning in the middle of it, surrounded by the berries he had knocked over when Katie had scared him. The son of Hermes was staring at Katie with wide eyes; even from here she could see his cheeks flushing.

"Um… hi Katie," he said nervously, kicking a basket of strawberries behind him as though he could stop Katie from noticing. "Nice night, huh?"

Katie came forward as if in a trance. The moonlight was so bright she could clearly make out each of the baskets, piled high with the little red fruits. Crouching down, she grabbed one, holding it up to examine it.

"What are you _doing?_" she asked Travis, frowning over at him.

Swallowing thickly, Travis looked back down at the ground. "It's stupid," he muttered, starting to gather the berries again and dropping them back into the basket. "I just- I don't know… I felt bad about eating your strawberries, so I-"

"Bought thirty baskets of them?" Katie asked, sweeping another look at the army of berries.

Travis didn't meet her eyes. "I _picked _thirty baskets of them," he muttered so quietly Katie had to strain to hear.

Katie stared at him. "You _what_?" she asked incredulously, thinking that she must have heard wrong. No way would Travis Stoll be caught _dead _picking strawberries. What was this, the apocalypse?

"I picked thirty baskets of strawberries," Travis said louder. "Well, twenty-seven, but I was hoping you wouldn't notice that I skipped out on the last three."

Katie frowned at him. "Why?" she asked, thrown for a loop by this behavior. Travis had been so distant the last few days, she had thought she had completely blown any chance at friendship with him. Now here he was, telling her that he had picked thirty baskets of strawberries for her. What was going on?

"I told you," Travis said, tipping the strawberries into the basket. "I felt bad about eating your strawberries. I felt _really _bad when I saw how upset you were, and I wanted to make it up to you."

"But… I thought you were mad at me?" Katie asked, confused.

"I wasn't," Travis assured her. "Well… not really. At first I was a bit peeved, but what you said wasn't wrong. By the time I figured that out, I just wanted to try and make you feel better. I've spent the last few days picking these in secret."

"Make me feel better?" Katie asked, squinting at him as though seeing him in a new light. "I thought you hated me!"

"Well, I thought you hated me!" Travis defended, flicking his eyes up to meet hers briefly. And Katie was surprised by what she saw- pain and sadness. She had really hurt Travis with her words. She felt a wave of shame wash over her.

"I didn't mean the stuff I said," she said quietly. "I was just caught up in the heat of the moment, I guess."

Travis shrugged in a defeated-looking manner. "It was the truth, though," he muttered. "I'm just a nuisance…"

"No, Travis, you're not!" Katie protested. "You're really funny, and smart- I mean, you have to be to think of those pranks- and, well… I guess you have a sweet side as well," she said, looking around at all the strawberries with a small smile.

Travis looked back up at her, a confused expression on his face. "But…" he said, trailing off.

Katie got to her feet, realizing for the first time she was only wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Shivering slightly, she bit her lip. "I do want to know one thing, though," she admitted. "What did you mean when you said you just annoyed me to get my attention? Back when we were fighting, I mean."

Travis clambered to his feet. His cheeks were a rosy red, which made Katie smile. She had to look up at him just a little bit, as he was a good inch taller than her, but she didn't mind.

"You'd never notice me any other way," he said, looking her in the eye.

Katie felt her heart thudding, and struggled to get out her next words. "Why would you want me to notice you?" she asked softly.

Travis seemed to be struggling with something. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, before finally forcing out, "Because I like you."

He broke their gaze, looking at the ground. He looked completely humiliated. Katie let out a small laugh, which made him look up, looking like a scolded puppy.

And then she did something that completely surprised him.

She kissed him.

When she pressed her lips to his, he went into complete shock. For a moment, he did nothing but stand there dumbly, staring with wide eyes, but then he leaned into the kiss. Their lips moved together, and Katie felt as though she was on Cloud Nine, however cliché that sounded. That was when she knew it, deep inside of her: she liked Travis. She always had. No matter how much he annoyed her, he had grown on her, and she had fallen absolutely head over heels. And it appears that he had done the same.

Katie finally pulled away, breathless, but kept her forehead pressed against his. His eyes were shut, a content smile on his face as they simply stood there, in each other's arms.

"I like you too," Katie whispered into the silent night.

Travis grinned, opening his eyes. "I would hope so," he teased.

Katie laughed, feeling lighter than she had all week. Not only was Travis back to normal, but she had _kissed him. _Travis Stoll. _Kissed. _She couldn't wait to see everyone's faces when they announced what had happened. Connor was going to have a heart attack.

"Katie?" Travis said quietly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Hm?" she asked, sighing happily.

"Don't ever, _every _make me pick strawberries again," Travis said seriously, looking her in the eye.

Katie threw back her head and laughed. After a moment, Travis joined in, and they stood there in the night, just laughing in each other's arms for no particular reason except for joy.

* * *

**A/N: So that's the end. Ta-da! It ended up just being a two-shot, so I hope that's alright with you all.**

**Thanks for the reviews! I was surprised to get any, haha. I hope you all liked this very short story. If you did, please leave a comment; it would mean a lot to know people read this!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Xoxo,**

**Kayla**


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